Role Title: Chief Executive Officer
Reports to: Chair of the Board of Trustees
Responsible for: Senior Management Team and all staff/contractors
Time Commitment: Full-time/4 days a week
Location: Flexible with regular travel
Salary: circa £130,000
- Pension and benefits package offered.
- Flexible working supported.
- The Foundation welcomes diverse backgrounds and encourages applications from people with lived experience of the issues it seeks to address.
Role Purpose
The CEO will lead a newly established Foundation committed to enabling disadvantaged people to gain the skills, confidence, and opportunities needed to secure and thrive in good work. With an annual budget of £3–5m, the Foundation will deliver high-impact grant-making, build strategic partnerships, leveraging in new resources and influence policy and practice across the skills and employment ecosystem.
The CEO is responsible for shaping the Foundation’s strategic direction, building an agile and values-led organisation, aligning resources and capabilities and ensuring that its work leads to measurable, sustainable social impact.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Lead the development and delivery of the Foundation’s long-term strategy, mission, and impact framework.
- Act as a convener and partner with others to build funding and policy alliances to further the Foundation’s cause.
- Ensure all programmes, grants, partnerships, and influencing activity align with the Foundation’s purpose.
- Monitor the external environment and advise the Board on opportunities and risks affecting the Foundation’s goals.
Impact and Programme Leadership
- Oversee the design and delivery of a bold, evidence-informed grant-making, insight generation and influencing agenda that improves access to skills and employment for disadvantaged groups.
- Ensure the organisation’s funding and evaluation strategies deliver measurable impact and support a culture of learning and excellence.
- Support innovation, collaboration, and systems change by investing in high-potential ideas and organisations.
Influencing and External Engagement
- Act as the primary spokesperson for the Foundation, representing it with credibility to employers, delivery partners, government, funders, and communities.
- Develop strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations, employers, and networks to amplify the Foundation’s impact.
- Lead the Foundation’s public affairs and influencing work, ensuring its voice contributes to improvements in policy and practice.
Organisational Leadership and Culture
- Build and lead a diverse, high-performing team aligned with the Foundation’s values of inclusion, integrity, ambition, and learning.
- Embed a culture of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement.
- Promote lived experience, co-design, and community insight within the Foundation’s work.
Governance and Board Engagement
- Work closely with the Chair to ensure effective governance and strategic decision-making.
- Provide high-quality advice, reporting, and insight to the Board.
- Ensure organisation operates with integrity and transparency, meeting all legal, regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities.
- Support Board development, induction, and Trustee engagement as required.
Financial and Risk Management
- Provide strategic leadership for the Foundation’s financial sustainability, ensuring resources are aligned to deliver long-term impact and growth.
- Set the vision for financial planning and investment strategies, guiding the development of annual budgets and operational priorities to achieve strategic objectives.
- Champion a culture of proactive risk management and governance, maintaining robust systems for internal controls, compliance, and organisational resilience.